


Catharsis

by Scrasy



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Apprentice Hux, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone wants to train Hux, F/M, Force-Sensitive Armitage Hux, Gen, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Mentioned Brendol Hux, Protective Armitage Hux, Protective Kylo Ren, Protective Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28533069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrasy/pseuds/Scrasy
Summary: It's hard to be at a crossroads. Kylo Ren thought he chose his own destiny when he followed in his grandfather's footsteps. However, the world is much more complicated. Light does not always mean kind, and Darkness meanly hides good motives.But where to get the energy to explore new tricks of the Force, if all his nerves go to the completely unbearable Hux?
Relationships: Armitage Hux & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux & Rey, Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Catharsis

This is the end. When the sirens exploded with unbridled howls, Hux thought that everything could still be fixed. When the cooling systems on the lower floors, in the very core of the Base, exploded, Hux thought that everything could still be fixed. Now, when he is standing on the shuttle ramp and gazes at the beauty of his dying brainchild, which is living out its last minutes in agony, Hux is thinking about nothing. 

He tightens his clench the datapad with which they managed to find the Kylo Ren. Now he is not at all interested in the pulsating blue dot on the screen. The general looks indifferently over the tops of black pines, hardly paying attention to the scarlet glow of a dying planet that is collapsed under them. The ground is cracking under the shuttle and under the feet of the stormtroopers, who are now put on the mutilated body of Ren on a stretcher and in a hurry dragged into the shuttle.

Hux's mind is chaotic and he has an incredibly seductive thought: take away the shuttle ladder and leave the hated person on the moribund base. But the general immediately discard this thought. Order already loses many people, and after the explosion of the Starkiller base, the regular personnel of the First Order will be reduced by almost a third. He must take care of those who manage to escape.

A large crack appears right next to the shuttle and casts a choking, dense flow of sulfur on the general. For a second, it even seems to him that the earth is humming underfoot, not from the fact that the heated core is torn to pieces, but from the screams of thousands of his people, who are roasting alive in a death trap. Many physically do not have enough time to get to hangars. Hux considered his creation unapproachable. He overestimated it.

The general winces, but does not even allow himself to clear his throat. The four stormtroopers he managed to snatch out of the panicked mass of officers and soldiers had already loaded Ren into the shuttle. Hux cannot stop staring at the terrifying sight in front of him. This is the downfall of Starkiller. This is the downfall of Hux's career and, most likely, his life. Hux hates himself that the sentimental part of his personality considers this sight to be incredibly beautiful.  
“General, we need to leave! The shuttle is overheating!” the man behind him screams.

General does not turn around. How long did Hux stand on the ladder, sullenly staring at what would soon become emptiness that even the pilot was blown up from the seat? No, it will not become emptiness. Starkiller base will most likely turn into a new star that will shine for billions years.

“Yes, you are right,” the general says in a firm voice. Hux takes one last look at the base, shutting his eyes tightly and rubbing his eyes, which are watering from the strong wind, with his hand. If he hunched his back for a second and caught the pilot's sympathetic gaze out of the corner of his eye, then Hux will never think about it once again. In the next second, the general puts on his impersonal mask and slowly moves inside the ship, simultaneously put a small datapad in one of the countless inner pockets of his coat. The ladder at the back disappears into the groove and the trapdoor closes, finally cutting off the six people and Ren from the crumbling reality.

The pilot runs ahead of his general, sitting down in a chair, and in an uncertain voice commands everyone on board to buckle up. The stormtroopers, tied Ren to a stretcher and fixed them in a room adjacent to the main compartment and then clustered in places against the wall. Hux, apart, sits down behind the pilot, who is desperately trying to control the shuttle. If they manage to escape, it will be thanks to kriffing luck, which does not really like to bestow Hux with its attention lately.

The base remains intact much longer than the general expected. The pilot manages to move the ship to a safe distance when the planet behind them explodes and still scorches the outer skin of the ship. The temperature in the shuttle instantly reaches ninety-five degrees and is inexorably moving towards one hundred. The pilot, at his own peril and risk, squeezes the maximum out of the engines and breaks away from the blast wave, entering hyperspace. Fortunately, for the continuous supply of resources to the base, the First Order decided to place it near one of the secret hypertransition points and the risk of running into any object is minimal. The temperature in the cockpit does not even think to drop, and Hux can feel a bead of sweat slowly trickling down his temple.

“Everyone take off their helmets and chest armor,” the general commands, not loudly, but firmly, taking off his coat and folding it next to him. After his words, there is a surprised hitch, but no one dares to disobey him. 

Yes. He is still their general. Still.

The pilot first removes the helmet and places it on the control console, wiping his wet face with the sleeve of his jacket.

The stormtroopers unfasten from their seats and remove the top of their armor with quiet clicks.  
Hux doesn't quite understand their confusion. After the fall of the base, the medical blocks will be overflowing anyway. It would be a flaw for more or less healthy soldiers to lie there with heatstroke.

After about twenty minutes, as soon as the shuttle's indicators return to normal, the pilot asks the general for an order.

"We are on our way to the "Supremacy". Coordinates in the shuttle database. Pass this information on to all ships that escaped."

The miserable remnants of the general's strength are spent on keeping his voice from trembling  
"Yes, sir!" Cheerfully, as if mocking, the pilot confirms.

Once the coordinates are confirmed, Hux finally slumps in his chair, idly watching the stormtroopers undress. Of course, in his thoughts, of. Outside, his posture is still perfect, but Hux thinks that soon his spine will break under the weight of the circumstances.

Stormtroopers clearly belonged to different corps or even divisions. They are too diverse, and it is an eyesore. The first to take off the bib is a thick, stocky woman. Short, finger-long, dark hair sticks in absolute disorder to red, steamed skin. And round gray eyes look around in fright. She strongly reminds him of Mitaka. Hux bites the inside of his cheek and hopes that his best lieutenant has escaped. Lanky blond guy, as if mocking, being almost a copy of Phasma. Until they reach Supremacy, Hux will not be able to find out what happened to his captain.

But the third stormtrooper annoys the general with its mere existence. Medium height and dark skinned. 

Traitor. 

The one due to whom the destruction of the base became possible. Hux fights a completely destructive desire to shoot a stormtrooper who has the audacity to look like the most expensive failure of his life.

To avoid excesses, Hux unfastens from his seat and stands up abruptly, frightening everyone in the cockpit. Ignoring the stormtroopers and the pilot, he goes to the room, which is his office.  
Once the door closes behind him with a soft hiss, the general can afford to lean against the wall.  
He looks around the familiar room with a dim look, until his eyes stumble upon an extra object here.

Oh yes. Ren. Hux had already forgotten about him. He should to examine and treat his wounds. It would be a shame if that moron bled to death on their way to Snoke.

Hux curses himself for not coming here earlier. Blood soaked through the stretcher and flowed in a thick stream to the floor. Ren lost about half a liter, if not more.

Hux quickly walks over to the closet on the opposite wall and pulls out an emergency first aid kit. A tube of bacta and a couple of meters of bandages will not help much in this situation, but it’s at least something.

The wound on the face looks terrible, but it is not at all dangerous. The edges are burned with a lightsaber's blade and do not bleed at all. Through the scorched flesh, the yellowish bones of Master of the Knights of Ren's empty skull can be seen.

If only it weren't for this idiot, Hux would have managed to organize an evacuation and would have saved priceless lives and technology.

Hux draws his attention to Ren's face while avoiding the damaged areas. This is the first time in the past few years that a general has seen his co-commander without a caricature mask and he is completely unimpressed.

When Ren is unconscious, Hux likes him more than usual. He does not in tantrum or destroy valuable equipment. 

In any case, Ren will definitely not make it worse. Hux had a lifetime stamp of Starkiller's fall on the inside of his eyelids. Trying to distract himself from oppressive thoughts, Hux stands directly above the limp body and looks more closely at the Ren's face.

Ren is so defenseless right in front of him. It's so easy to get the blade out of his sleeve and slit Ren's throat. But Hux immediately pulls himself back. Snoke considers Ren worthy of salvation. The Supreme Leader is wise and Hux is not going to worsen his situation  
Maybe the Supreme Leader's anger will smooth over the fact that his apprentice has returned alive, although not whole?

The wound on the side is much worse. It is quite deep and bleeds heavily. Hux doesn’t find anything better than making a small pillow of bandages, smearing it with bacta, and putting a simple compress on the open wound. Probably, even some half-educated medic from the provincial planet would have ripped off Hux's hands for something like that, but the general has no options yet.

Bacta ended and the wound on the face was left without. On the outskirts of general's consciousness it slips that there should be several more first-aid kits in the cockpit, but Hux does not even think to show himself to his soldiers in such a condition. Let the vaunted Force help Ren to get out of the next world. Without thinking twice, Hux prowls around his desk, pulling out the alcoholic hand gel and splashing it generously on the Ren's face. This should help combat the hypothetical infection.

Hux can do nothing more. And he doesn't want to, to be honest. He knows Ren is much solid than a normal person. Hux stopped the blood, and then it's up to Ren and his omnipresent Force.  
During the whole period of "treatment", Ren did not even stir. Indulging dishonorable thoughts, Hux puts three fingers to the his neck and doesn't know whether to be happy or upset about him. Ren's pulse is weak, but stable.

With a quiet sigh, the general sits into a chair that seems uncomfortable and completely alien, and sits silently for the next hours, only occasionally falling into a short nap.

***

When they reach the "Supremacy", and the medics take the Ren, the kriffing mountain falls off Hux's shoulders. The alleviation is so strong that even the muscles do not obey it. Or is it because the general has not slept for three cycles.

The hangar is full of ships that arrived just minutes ahead of Hux's shuttle. There are a lot of wounded, and the flagship's capacity was sorely lacking.

For a moment, the general thinks he notices Mitaka in the crowd, but Hux ignores everything around him. He still has a lot of work to do. The dreadnoughts and other suitable ships must be ordered to approach the Supremacy and take the wounded aboard. If things go on like this, people will die on the hangar floor without waiting for help.

He heads to his quarters. They are much smaller than on the Starkiller, but Hux is not worried about pomp nowadays. Extreme overstrain and this whole situation makes him sick and the general indulge this weakness.  
***  
Snoke himself is not on the flagship. And Hux doesn't know if it's good or bad. Uncertainty weighs more heavily with each passing hour. Hux is drowning in paperwork, trying to optimize the work of the medical unit, and makes requests for the provision of medical supplies and the transfer of the injured to nearby loyal planets.

Hux is very worried about the situation with the overload of the flagship's capacity. Medical compartment overflowing. The wiring is already failing, Hux often notices flashing lights throughout the ship. 

This is all so pathetic. 

More recently, the Order was at the peak of its power, and now its people have to clump on overloaded ships and pray that there will be enough resources for everyone. But the Order has no Gods, only Hux, who always deal to this shit.

Snoke's order comes in three days. The Finalizer, under the command of Admiral Tarkos and Captain Phasma, must hunt down the remnants of the Resistance, and the rest of the ships must accommodate all those who managed to escape from the base. Kylo Ren was ordered to recover for further training.

Nothing about Hux. Although, what did he expect? Greeting card?

The soldiers still salute him, crew, (although not his own from the Finalizer), obey orders, but Hux has already got used to the fact that his life will end in its prime. And the fact that the general is not allowed to control his own dreadnought in a punitive mission is confirmation of this. Hux knows Admiral Tarkos very well. Much better than he would like. One of Brendol's former confidants. A spit in the face from the Supreme Leader, not otherwise.  
At least he knows Phasma is alive.

But the general can only hope.

***

Another pack of stims gets into the exhausted organism of the general. Already the third in the past two cycles. The doctors say that if he doesn't stop, his heart will fail. If the general does not take care of himself, then let him take care of his subordinates. There are no extra medical beds on the ship, as well as extra arms to pump the general out of an imminent heart attack. We'll have to sacrifice someone of a lower rank.  
Hux is attracted by his own value and he “took note of” the remarks of the medical staff, but does not intend to give up stimulants. He still needs to order a batch of medical droids, decide on the supply of provisions. And most importantly - to deal with the consequences of the destruction of the main weapon of the First Order. Newly annexed systems and traditionally rebellious planets are already showing defiance.  
So far, they are only mildly demanding tax cuts, which they send immediately after their condolences about the disaster, but Hux knows very well that they will not stop there. Shipyards have already raised prices. If this continues, the First Order will remain unarmed.

Hux grits his teeth and digs deeper, looking for loopholes and levers of pressure on the insolent planets.

Hux will not tolerate such a shame. 

The First Order will not repeat the fate of the Empire.

***

Even through the oxygen mask, Ren can smell the disgusting sugary-sweet stench of bacta. The state of weightlessness and stiffness in movement allows him to determine that he is in a bacta tank.  
Memories of the last moments of his conscious wakefulness roll over him like a snowball.

The scavenger. Refused. Him.

He was ready to throw the world at the feet of this ungrateful girl and show her the true Force, but she rejected him in a very rude manner. 

Traded him, Force, power for dirty, rebel scum. To a bunch of rats. These Resistance scum were so brainwashed by Rei that she didn't even consider the idea of becoming someone near to Kylo. She continues to be nobody near to the traitor and Organa.

Rage seethes within Ren, and Force pulsates around him. And after a few seconds he hears the plaintive crackle of transparent steel and he is sharply thrown forward. Bacta is gradually poured out of the tank and Ren feels the coldness on his wet skin. At least he can feel again.

It is still difficult to open his eyes, but the Force replaces the Ren's sight and he sees two frightened medics running up to him.

***

In the last cycle and a half, Hux has suspicious double vision. But he strains his eyes with the last of his strength and peers at the message marked "urgent".  
It turns out that Ren successfully and quite independently got out of the bacta tank. But this action cost the Order one hundred and twenty thousand credits and the now vital bacta and medical equipment. As always, this spoiled child can get away with it.

Hux looks at the date the message was sent and is horrified that it came almost a cycle back to his datapad. The general spent almost a week in his office on only stims and he would have slept at least a few hours before going to the bridge, but Hux needs to make sure that at least a few grains of the former control remain in his hands.  
Ren seems to be doing the same. He's already on the bridge, and Hux is morally gratified that the team's tension eases as the general walks into the control center. It's mostly not his team here, but he manages to spot a few familiar faces.

Crew is clearly not comfortable around Ren. Hux wished he could see someone who could be comfortable around Ren.

Bacta did not help the scar on his face, apparently because a five cycles ago, Hux "successfully" disinfected the wound and regretted the bandages.  
Let him say thanks that he remained alive.

Ren does not glance at Hux, but frowns, contorting large traits, and barely perceptibly tenses his whole body.

In all the years that the Knight wore a mask, Hux has learned the body language of his co-commander by heart. Now that the hated piece of clothing has disappeared with Starkiller, Ren is easier to read than a Aurebesh book.

Having barely got to the bridge, Hux immediately organizes a seething activity, almost interrogating every officer who was unlucky enough to be near the general.

The situation with the wounded is almost resolved, but there will not be enough medicine for everyone in the long term. Hux puts the information in his head, intending to deal with it later. Having learned everything necessary about the current situation, ordered to contact the Finalizer and redirect the signal to his office, he leaves the bridge, feeling the piercing gaze of Ren drilling in his back.  
Mitaka turns out to be whole, healthy and quite ready for work. Hux instructs him to deal with the supply of medical supplies and prepare everything for the introduction of economy mode on all ships. It is vital for the general himself to contact the Finalizer. This can be done only twelve hours after the official request.

The ship is destroyed, most of the TIE-fighters are demolished, everyone on the bridge is dead. The remnants of the Resistance in the amount of several dozen people were able to leave. General Organa is most likely dead.

This is clearly too much, but Hux needs to deal with a new problem that hovers over him like a dark cloud. Although where are the clouds in outer space?

The hand reaches for the bottom drawer of the table, where the general stores the stims, but comes across only an empty package, which rustles mockingly.

Hux loosen the collar of his shirt, feeling cold sweat running down his back. There should be more stimulant in the bedroom.

His rooms on "Supremacy" are inferior to those on "Starkiller", but much larger than the "Finalizers". Now they seem unnecessarily huge. Moving towards the door to the bedroom, Hux clings to anything that helps him keep on his shaking legs. He fails to reach the bedroom. Halfway through, the general's body falls to the floor.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dear readers. This is my first work in English and I hope my language is not very terrible. I would be glad to receive any feedback.


End file.
